In office buildings, large open areas are often finished off to define an office environment configured for the specific needs of a business. This may be accomplished through combinations of different building systems such as raised floor systems, ceiling systems, wall panel systems, and desking or other furniture systems.
For example, space-dividing wall panel systems often are provided to subdivide a large office space into multiple, individual workstations. Each workstation includes various pieces of office equipment including computers, telephones and lighting wherein such equipment requires connection to power distribution systems as well as data distribution systems.
Such space-dividing wall systems include individual upright wall panels which are serially connected together to form the walls of the various workstations. Typically, such wall panels are provided with raceways extending therethrough in which power and communication cabling are laid.
While such wall panel systems perform the general function of sub-dividing a larger office area, a wide variety of wall panel systems are commercially available wherein the specific construction of these various wall panel systems differs from one system manufacturer to another. Further, each manufacturer also may manufacture and sell a variety of different wall panel systems as part of their product line.
In addition to wall panel systems, it is known to provide freestanding furniture systems such as arrangements of desks wherein each desk is adapted to support power and/or communication cabling systems thereon such as by raceways or cable hangers built onto the desks. As such, these desk systems may be used by themselves or if desired, in combination with wall panel systems.
Still further, the main office area typically includes a hard floor surface, such as a concrete surface covered by a suitable floor covering, wherein the above-described wall panel systems and desk systems are used directly thereon. To further enhance and simplify the routing of power and communication systems throughout the office area, it is known to provide raised floor systems which define a main floor area that is spaced above and overlies the pre-existing base floor of the office area. The raised floor area is covered with removable floor tiles and supports various furniture components thereon such as the desk systems and wall panel systems discussed above. A clearance space between the base floor and the raised floor tiles defines a raceway-like area wherein the floor tiles may be removed to permit the laying of power and communication cabling systems therein.
It is desirable therefore to provide data communication systems and power distribution systems which have significant flexibility for use with any or all of the above-described furniture systems.
As to power distribution systems, various power distribution systems are already in use. However, known power distribution systems may possess structural limitations which restrict the flexibility that such systems have for use with the various furniture systems discussed above. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved power distribution system which has significant flexibility and adaptability for use with a wide variety of building systems and, furthermore, has the capability to readily transition between the various building systems located in the office area.
The invention relates to a power distribution system comprising modular electrical components which are readily connectable together in multiple configurations depending upon the specific environment in which the power system will be used. The modular components include a solid wire power distribution assembly which forms a solid wire bus, a receptacle and flexible connector cables.
These modular components may be configured into a bus-bar based power system which is particularly suitable for use in raceways of wall panel systems or desk systems, or even a flexible cable based system for use by itself in wall panel, desk and raised floor systems. When transitioning between different building systems, for example, between the raceways of a raised floor system and a wall panel system supported thereon, a portion of the power system may be configured into a cable based system comprising flexible interconnected cables which may be used in a raised floor, wherein the flexible cables of the cable based system are then connected to a bus-bar based system that may supply power throughout the wall panel system.
The modular power system has significant flexibility and adaptability for use in most any combination of the above-described wall panel, raised floor, or desking system as well as other types of furniture systems, ceiling applications and the like.
Other objects and purposes of the invention, and variations thereof, will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.
Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience and reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, the words “upwardly”, “downwardly”, “rightwardly” and “leftwardly” will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “inwardly” and “outwardly” will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the arrangement and designated parts thereof. Said terminology will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.